Elijah finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time and entangles himself into an ongoing underground fight against the Androids. This makes Connor appoint himself as Elijah's personal bodyguard for the time being.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad s...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The idea of going to the Mall was for the simple fact that Elijah thought it would be big enough that he could avoid people and keep anyone from crowding against him. He forgot to account for a few things in this thought process.
The time of day.
And the fact it's a weekend.
Though the Mall was far busier than he actually anticipated, there was at least still enough room to move that he could avoid running into anyone if he tried. It also truly helped that Connor was here with him. The Androids presence seemed to be keeping the worst of the anxiety quelled just by sticking close to him. Elijah had also taken his medication before leaving the Villa, Connor made certain of it, which was also helping ease some of the stress in him.
It's been so long since he's been somewhere like this, and throwing himself into a place like the Mall as his first actual outdoor outing and public interaction–well, if you were going to do something he always believed doing it in grand gestures. Besides, he wasn't here for himself, he was here for Connor and attempting to get him in clothes other than the RK800 uniform. Even if he did appreciate the RK800 uniform and how it looked on Connor, he couldn't wear that strictly forever. He didn't care if the Android wore it every so often, but since the Androids fought so hard for their freedom–he should wear clothes. Clothes that represent himself and his fashion, his personality, whatever that might be.
Elijah also worries in part that wearing the uniform constantly will upset the other Androids, especially those who had fought in the war. He also doesn't think that's an unjustifiable fear given the way that Androids are hurting each other and humans are still fighting against the Androids. All it takes is one thing to push someone over the edge. Connor might be able to handle himself but that doesn't mean he won't get hurt.
He doesn't want to have to go through that a second time, once was enough.
"Elijah, are you alright?"
The Mall they were in had two floors and dozens of stores. On the first floor near the front a little ways in–was a CyberLife store. The store had caught his attention when they were walking and Elijah had stopped to look at it, seeing the renovated shelves and the products now on display to be sold. There was a good number of people (Androids?) inside, looking over the products and standing at the counter. The stores were still white, the products crammed on display shelves in what was meant to be attractive ways. He had absolutely no part in redesigning them, he had left that up entirely to the design team.
Connor's hand settled on his shoulder and he blinked, turning his gaze slightly to look over toward the other before turning away entirely to continue through the mall. "What does CyberLife sell now to make a profit?"
"You assume CyberLife is profitable at all." A shrug followed his words as the Android looked over at him. "Currently, CyberLife is a sinking pit for me. Our biggest profit before the war was selling Androids, it's how we made back the funds to make the things we do for Android." Turning his head to the side he looked over at Connor. "Now that we can't do that and we're limited on what we can put a price on, the stores had to be turned over to sell what we're allowed. Which has come down to like the products you used in the shower, the gel I put in your hair, they're even working on a clothing line."
